Noobs first 40

[macerra]

I everyone I have been lurking in the shadows for some time now reading up on different things that have been posted but have finally earned my right to post by buying a money sink hole that we all know as the Landcruiser. I fell in love with these things when I first rode in my buddies 60 in high school. In college I had a group of friends with Landrovers, which were great when they were running but they all had a heck of a time keeping them that way. One even admitted one day when he saw a 40 how much better it was and this kid was die hard Landrover too so it made me feel good. The time came that I could finally afford one so I found one that I liked and jumped on it.

I was waiting to get some pictures to post before doing this but I have a question for you all so the pictures will have to wait for now.

The 4 wheel drive selector lever keeps wanting to shift into 4 wheel drive as I am driving. At first I thought that it was cute how my new toy just wanted to off road so bad that she was begging me to but since it is grinding the gears I thought maybe I should do something about it.

I am still waiting on my fsms so it is hard to really get a feel for what could be going on without looking at a diagram. My question is what is holding the selector lever in place and is it some thing that a mediocre mechanic can fix? Is this a symptom of a greater problem than the lever moving freely?

I am good at figuring things out and have worked on cars a good deal but never had to go deep into the engine or transmmition. I realized before I bought one that this was going to be a learning experience so I want to do all of the work that I can myself. I also know that there are some things that are out of my ability range right now though.

Thanks for any help and will show off the new acquisition as soon as I get some pics.

 

[John Smith]

What model and year Land Cruiser did you buy?

Crawl under the truck to check that your transfer case linkage is actually hooked up.

Welcome!

 

[macerra]

I guess that would help huh. Its a 1/77fj40.

And yes the linkage is hooked up. 4wd works it just wants to get back in there when I am in 2wd if that adds anything to the mystery.

When I went under just to make sure that I am not an idiot right now I did notice that the bar coming from the linkage to the top of the transfer case that just looks like it is there for support and to keep it in place has dry rotted bushings and is able to be wiggled without moving the linkage. Is it supposed to be tight?

Thanks for the welcome. Been a long time coming to get here

 

[macerra]

Stock too.

 

[John Smith]

The linkage on the top of the tranfercase is the High-Neutral-Low and on the side is your 2wd-4wd. There is a ball, spring, and detent on the 2wd/4wd shaft that should not allow the transfercase to slip from 2wd to 4wd. Either your linkage is the hitting the body or something else under there (doubtful) or there is something wrong with the transfercase.

To answer your question. My stock linkage was so tight I had to get out of the truck to shift into 4wd from the passenger side. Rust usually binds up the linkages.

 

[AKcruiserfreak]

Welcome. Sounds like you a few bugs to work out, but you are on the right path bro.

TK

 

[macerra]

Thanks for the help. I was expecting some problems buying a 30 year old car so as long as this one doesn't blossom too much I'm still a happy buyer. And if it does turn into major surgery than I will just learn all that much more.

Where should I start when trying to diagnose this? There has to be some sort of test I could do before ditching the transfer case. It just sort of wanders its way slowly down there. Sometimes faster than others. When I noticed it I just kept pushing it back up every time that it moved an inch or so and she drove fine. I have a buddy that knows more than I do about cars and I'm going to see if I can't bribe him over here this weekend with some beer.

On a brighter note here are some pictures with her new shoes on, BFG Mud 33x10.5. They rub a little while flexing so that unfortunately means I need a lift now. Damn the bad luck. That will be the first thing after I get her running up to par.

 

[macerra]

and one more

 

[OLDNSLO]

Nice cruiser....I like the color! Where did you pick up the cruiser?

 

[highlandcruzer]

Welcome,congrats on your purchase! It looks realy solid. I love dune beige . Look on the bright side,whatever the problem is , its easier to fix than rust !!!

 

[macerra]

Got it in Georgia. I'm in southern Alabama so the drive up there wasn't too bad but coming back at the blistering speed of 60 took a while but I was hyped because of what I was driving. My buddy following me in my 4 Runner wasn't too happy though.

You got that rust thing right. That was the one thing that I absolutely did not want. There are some small spots where paint has been chipped off like on the door frame but I can take care of that without much of a problem what so ever.

 

[FJFOOL]

Welcome, that sure is in nice shape !!

 

[77TLCFJ40]

Congrats on holding out for a sweet 40.

I wish mine had looked that good when it came home.

Good luck!

 

[4WD Toyota Owner Magazine]

Very cool. Welcome!

 

[TLCHopII]

Nice cruiser!

On your shift issue. If you imobilize the 4wd shift lever, ie tie it to the dash (locking the laver into the 2 wheel drive position) does the transfer still shift itself? If yes it's the transfer internals if not it's the linkage! Good luck!

Againnice find!

 

[Colorado Boy-74-FJ40]

Nice cruiser. I like the parking brake (rock) and I see you already got the lean. Welcome to the addiction

 

[Spud]

Cool vehicle,

I am a noob too...I just got a Nov/76', FJ40 Tan too.

I know the feeling of being excited etc. Spent the last 2 weeks going through it and adjusting stuff. The previous owner had misc. hardware holding ambi. doors/seats/hard top/roll cage, some body panels etc. I had to go through and re assemble alot of stuff.

Check to see that the steering wheel is attached well. Mine was barely hanging on. It had stripped nut and damaged threads. I pulled it off and ran a die over the shaft to make new threads, then re attached with a nylock nut and liberal amount of red locktite. It helped to tighted the steering up.

Went through a bunch of it and it is getting better and better.

 

[dgangle]

A 2.5" spring lift would look perfect with those tires.